Bihar remainedthe most lawless State in India. According to police
records, a total of 2516 cases were registered in Gopalganj district alone in
2007. These included 48 murder cases, 9 rape cases, 25 dowry death cases and 38
cases under Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocity Act among
others.[1]

During
2007, Bihar witnessed increasing mob violence. In September 2007,
the Bihar government decided to impose a fine on an entire village if its residents
take the law in their own hands while dealing with criminal offenders. On 13
September 2007, 10 suspected thieves were beaten to death with sticks and iron
rods by hundreds of villagers at Dhelpurwa village in Vaishali district.[2]

The
State government of Bihar had reportedly been preparing a three-pronged
strategy to deal
with the
Naxalites: increased security action against the Naxalites, strengthening the
intelligence network and effective implementation of the development schemes.In the wake of the Naxal attack on
two police stations in Rohtas district that killed nine persons including five
policemen, Bihar demanded 10 companies of paramilitary forces from the Centre
to fight the Naxalites. The government of Bihar has reportedly been negotiating with insurance
companies including General Insurance Corporation, National Insurance Corporation
and Life Insurance Corporation to provide insurance
cover of Rs 10 lakh to police personnel deployed in the Naxal affected areas.[3]After the
meeting of the National Security Council on 2 August 2007, the Central
government selected two districts in Bihar to launch “strong
anti-Naxalite action”.

Kidnapping
for ransom remained a flourishing business in Bihar. Lawyers, doctors, contractors and
businessmen and school students were prime targets. According to official
estimates, more than 900 persons were abducted across the state in the first
three months of 2007 alone. Over 2,000 persons were kidnapped in 2006.[4] But these figures were only a
fraction of the reality. Most cases go unreported.

The Bihar Police were responsible for gross human rights
violations including torture and violations of the right to life.

According
to information obtained by Asian Centre for Human Rights under the the Right to Information (RTI) Act, NHRC
received two cases of deaths in police custody in Bihar during the period of 1
April 2006 to 31 March 2007.

In
2007, ACHR
documented a
number of deaths in
police custody.

On 22 January 2007, Prabhas Singh was allegedly
tortured to death in the custody of the police of Alamnagar police station in
Madhepura district. He was arrested in connection with a dowry case filed by
his wife. Sub-Inspector Shiv Shankar Chowdhury allegedly demanded bribe from Singh for withdrawal of the case and was
beaten to death when he refused to pay. Doctors at the local Sadar
Hospital said he was brought dead and blood was oozing out of the mouth, nose
and ears.[5]

On
5 October 2007, Ashok Shah, a political leader associated with CPI (ML), died
due to alleged police torture after he was arrested on charges of attempt to
rape in Runi Saidpur under Sitamarhi district of Bihar.[6]

The police also resorted to indiscriminate firing at
civilians. On
16 March 2007, two persons were killed and at least six others injured when
police opened fire at people protesting irregularities in preparation of the
below poverty line list in Matihani block in Begusarai district.[7]On 3 August 2007, Darshan Thakur was
killed and three other injured when constable Aditya Narayan Singh opened fire
at flood victims in Madhubani district.[8]

However,
there were reports of civilians being killed in fake encounters. On 14 May
2007, three policemen were suspended for their involvement in a fake encounter,
in which a woman and her daughter were killed at Ranjitpur village in Sitamarhi
during an anti-Naxal operation.[9] Similarly, on 19 May 2007, two
Sub-Inspectors, Kaisar Alam and Utttam Singh were arrested on the charge of
killing a youth identified as Mohd Gufran in a fake encounter in Samastipur
district in 2002.[10]

According
to the figures received by Asian Centre for Human Rights through the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the NHRC
received only one case of illegal arrest, three cases of unlawful detention and
334 other cases of police excesses in Bihar during the period of 1 April 2006
to 31 March 2007. Besides, the police failed to take action in 410 cases during
the same period.

During
2007, Bihar witnessed increased number of mob violence. The police were themselves accused
of taking part in the mob.

On
28 August 2007, Mohd Aurangajeb alias Salim, an alleged thief, was reportedly
tied behind a motorcycle by Assistant Sub-Inspector LB Singh and Constable
Ramchandra Singh and dragged on the roads of Nathanagar locality in Bhagalpur.
However on 30 October 2007, an inquiry committee, constituted by the state
government to probe the role of the policemen, cleared the policemen of all
charges claiming that they were actually trying to save Salim from the mob.[11]

The
Naxalites were responsible for gross violations of international humanitarian
law including killing, abduction, torture, summary executions after trial by
its so-called Peoples' Court, Jana Adalat etc.

According
to the estimate of Asian Centre for Human Rights, the Maoists killed at least
28 persons in Bihar during January – September 2007 alone. Of them, 13 were
civilians.[12]

Some
of the victims included:

-Laxmi
Narayan Kunwar and Nandu Singh who were killed at Maniapur village in East
Champaran district in May 2007;[13]

-Ramchandra
Yadav, a Janata Dal (U) activist, and Anil Yadav who were killed with their
throats slashed at Satgharwa village in Munger district on 29 May 2007;[14] and

-Arun
Kumar, Kapildev and Abhay Kant who were killed at Sukki village under Patepur
block in Vaishali district on 10 December 2007.[15]

In most cases the victims were
accused of being police informers.

The
Naxalites also continued to deliver kangaroo justice through so-called Jana
Adalats, Peoples' Courts. Trials were arbitrary and those
found guilty were awarded capital punishment. On 1 July
2007, Shambhu Shah and Meghu Ram were beaten to death by the Naxalites in the
presence of the villagers after the “Jan Adalat” (People’s Court) sentenced
them to death on the charge of being police informers at Sisahani village under
Pakri Dayal police station of East Champaran district of Bihar. Another
villager Laxmi Shah was critically injured and was admitted at Motihari Sadar
Hospital.[16]

Judicial delay was further
compounded due to large number of vacancies in the judiciary. There were 14vacancies of judges against the
sanctioned strength of 43 in the Patna High Court as on 1 January 20008. In the District and Subordinate
Courts, 541 posts of judges were vacant as of30th September 2007. A total of 1,02,165 cases were pending before the Patna High Court
and a total of13,49,510 cases were pending before the
District and Subordinate Courts as on 30th September 2007.

On 7 July 2007, a Bhagalpur Court awarded life
imprisonment to fourteen persons in the Bhagalpur massacre in which 116 members of a minority community
were killed in 1989.[21] On 5 September 2007, a fast track
court in Nawada awarded death penalty to four persons in connection with the
massacre of five persons at a temple in Dola village on 11 August 2005.[22]

However, there was lack of security
to judges/lawyers especially those who were involved in speedy trials. On 8
November 2007, Ram Naresh Sharma, public prosecutor in the Begusarai civil
court, was shot dead by unidentified gummen at his residence in Begusarai town.
He was representing prosecution in speedy trial of all the criminal cases
involving don-turned MP Surajbhan Singh.[23]

The media was at
receiving ends in Bihar. On 1 November 2007, two journalists of the NDTV news
channel Prakash Singh and Habib Ali were reportedly taken hostage and assaulted
by ruling JD (U) MLA Anant Kumar Singh and his men when they went to his
residence at Mall Road in Patna to seek his comment in a case of alleged rape
and murder of a woman. NDTV’s cameraman Habib Ali received
internal injuries in the chest and had to be admitted in an ICU.Several other journalists were also
assaulted including ANI cameraman Ajay Kumar who was seriously injured.[24]

In September 2007, the Bihar government decided to
impose a fine on the entire village if its residents take the law in their
own hands while dealing with criminal offenders. On 13 September 2007, 10 suspected
thieves were beaten to death with sticks and iron rods by hundreds of villagers
at Dhelpurwa village in Vaishali district. On 10 September 2007, a mob had reportedly
gouged out the eyes of three persons for snatching a motorcycle in Nawada
district. Similarly, on 28 August 2007, a youth, who had snatched a gold chain
from a woman, was badly beaten up by a mob at Nathnagar in Bhagalpur.[25]

On
the night of 24 September 2007, Bikrama Ram, an alleged thief, was beaten to
death at Lokhara village under Majhagarh police station in Gopalganj district.[26]

Passengers
from the North east India traveling through Bihar faced threats to life due to
killings of migrant workers in Asom by the AOGs. On 25 January 2007, Daimalu
Daimary, son of Binoy Daimary of Bagaribari village under Mazbat police station
in Udalguri district of Asom, was tortured and killed at Danapur railway
station on his way to Asom from New Delhi.[27]

Caste-based violence and discrimination against the Dalits
were common in the State.

According
to official figures, there was rise in cases of atrocities against the
Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Bihar. A total of 1932
cases of atrocities against SCs and STs were registered during 2007 against
1729 in 2006. Out of the cases registered during 2007, one related to murder,
11 to rape, 8 arson, and 67 under the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act of 1989
and the Indian Penal Code.[28] However, the official figures did
not reflect the actual figure. Many cases go unreported due to fear of reprisal
and in many cases police did not registers the complaints.

The Dalits continued to face systematic discrimination and
untouchability. On 15 August 2007, the head of Dumari panchayat, Ram Sinhasan
Ram was assaulted when he dared to hoist the national flag at Durgavati in
Sasaram because he was a Dalit. Similarly, deputy mukhiya (village headman) Subodh Kumar Paswan, another Dalit,
was barred from hoisting the tricolour at Arajpur panchayat at Madhepura.[29]

Mid-day meals for schools cooked by Dalits were refused.
In June 2007, Muslim students of a Government-run Urdu school in Rohtas
district refused to eat the mid-day meal cooked by a Dalit woman.[30]

On
22 August 2007, two minor Dalit girls identified as Kamli, 10, and Chandni, 8,
of Manipur village in Samastipur district were drowned and died after they were
allegedly thrown into floodwater by Lalal Singh, a Bihar Military Police
constable, for collecting firewood from his orchard.[31]

Politicians were also involved in
violence based on discrimination. On 14 June 2007, state Agriculture
Minister Narendra Singh allegedly beat up a widow who had gone to meet him
seeking an employment for her son in Bhagalpur.[33]

On 18 August 2007, Dalit student
Navin Kumar Paswan, a Class IV student of a government school, lost his eye after
being beaten up by Headmaster Rajendra Jaiswal and teacher Shekhar Bharti for
demanding more food during a mid-day meal of Aujapauchha village in Purneaa
district.[34]

Dalit
women continued to be vulnerable. There were reports of killing, rape and
torture of Dalit women.

On
18 May 2007, a Dalit woman identified as Kari Devi (45) was beaten to death by
former village head Saroj Singh of Dhansir village in Gaya district on
suspicion that she stole a cow.[35]

On
31 August 2007, steaming dal was poured on a Dalit woman identified as Gyanti
Devi and her six-month-old daughter by Ramavatar Yadav and his three sons in
Patna in Bihar. Gyanti Devi was targeted because she had protested when her
other children were being roughed up by Ramavtar
for allowing the children to play in the premises of a temple.[36]

In January 2007, Ranju Kumari, a Dalit woman of Ahiyari
village under Kamtaul police station, was kidnapped and repeatedly raped for
more than a month by two influential men Kailash Yadav and Manoj Yadav. She was
taken to Patna and then to Amritsar in Punjab. Later, she was rescued by the
Pingalwala Charitable Trust in Amritsar.[37]

On 6 February 2007, a 14-year-old Dalit girl was
gang-raped and then killed by three youths to avoid identification at Korandih
village in Bhojpur district.[38]

Children
continued to face violence and the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act of 2000 wasroutinely violated.

In March 2007, a 17-year old minor identified as Arvind
Kumar was forced to write his Class XII examinations in handcuffs at
Dehrion-Sone in Sasaram district. The juvenile, a student of Navodaya Vidyalay
in Aurangabad district of Bihar, was arrested on 31 January 2007 on the charge
of murdering his classmate and sent to jail. The Aurangabad court granted him
permission to appear for his examinations but he was forced to take his
examinations in handcuffs in clear violations of the Supreme Court directive
not to handcuff minor offenders. His pleadings for removal of the handcuffs
during the examination were turned down by the police.[39]

On
24 June 2007, two minors identified as Rakesh (8 years old) and Rahul (6 years
old) were illegally detained by the police at the Shastri Nagar Police Station
in Patna for six hours without food and water for allegedly
stealing berries from a local market. The minor boys alleged that they were
beaten-up and locked-up in the jail along with several other convicts. It was
only when the local residents and media teams arrived at the police station
that both the minors were released.[40]

In June 2007, arrest warrant was issued against a
three-year-old boy identified as Raj Kumar Jha alias Raju Jha, son of Raj
Narayan Jha along with six other persons on the charges of rioting and
attacking policemen during a clash between two communities in a village under
Manihari police station of Katihar district. The boy was charged under sections
147, 148, 149, and 359 of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act.[41]

On
25 September 2007, two minor sisters Rinku (3) and Sangita Kumari (7) appeared
with their parents in district and sessions judge court for bail under various
sections of IPC in Darbhanga disctrict. Rinku was charged with forcibly taking
away a flowerpot, while Sangita was charged with grievously assaulting one Bhageshwari
Devi.[42]

Overcrowding remains a problem in Bihar jails. In April 2007, there were more than
42,000 people lodged in various jails of Bihar against a capacity of about
20,000.[43] There were constant reports of deaths of
prisoners in judicial custody.

According
to information received by Asian Centre for Human
Rights under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the NHRC
received 193 cases of deaths in judicial custody in Bihar during the period of
1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007.

ACHR
also documented a
number of cases of deaths
in judicial custody during 2007.

On
10 September 2007, an under-trial prisoner identified as Nagina Singh died in
Gaya Central jail. While the jail officials claimed that he had committed
“suicide” by jumping from the stairs, which lead to the second floor of the
three-storied central jail, the jail inmates alleged that a jail official
pushed him off
the stairs. [44]

Torture
of prisoners continued to be reported. In January 2007, a Dalit prisoner
identified as Arun Das, serving a sentence in a narcotic law-related case and
lodged at Purnia jail, was allegedly tortured by prison officials for his
failure to pay a bribe. The victim’s body allegedly bore burn marks inflicted
by cigarette butts and his genetalia were also injured as the prison
officials attempted to slash them with blades.[45]

Prisoners were not provided timely medical assistance. In
November 2007, an inmate identified as Bhuttu Chowdhary, lodged at the Beur
Jail in Patna, reportedly died due to the negligence of the jail officials in
providing timely medical assistance. The prisoner was said to be suffering from
diarrhea.[46]